The Tory party, throughout the 20th century, tried on and increasingly liked Labour’s clothes. You could say that for much of its period in government during that century it was in office but not in power. Its penetration by social-democratic ideas is one of the greatest achievements of the Fabian gradualists who long ago sought to do precisely this. If Christopher Patten and Michael Heseltine are conservatives, then what is a social democrat? What was the principal ideological difference between the government of John Major — the prototype of New Labour — and that of Mr Blair? The brief, overrated pseudo-conservative convulsion of Thatcherism fooled far too many people into thinking this had changed.

Much the same could be said of our Republican Party. They have alienated a large part of the party base with their stands on immigration, free trade and government spending. However, American conservatives have no place to go. Voting for the Democrats is out of the question and most of the third parties have more nuts than Planters. So, we're stuck with the least objectionable party.

If the next terrorist attackers are identified as having come in illegally through Mexico, there could be a groundswell of opinion in favor of a third party. Remember, Perot got 19% of the vote in 1992 because he was Anti-NAFTA.

The British Conservatives are facing this situation now. The United Kingdom Independence Party captured a number of seats in the European Parliament election and placed ahead of the Tories in a recent by-election. Conservatives in England have a real choice now. UKIP's success could be a blueprint for a movement.

Posted
2:07 PM
by Chris
Most people think that New York City and Long Island are hellholes (Wait a minute...I think that). Anyway, there is still some natural beauty here as this photo taken 10/3 at Robert Moses State Park demonstrates. FeedbackPermalink

Walking to my office most New York, I encounter some of the most annoying bastards in the entire city: office building sidewalk washers.Outside every Stalinist office tower, a man in a jumpsuit, occasionally wearing a clip-on bow tie, sprays down the entire sidewalk.Granted, if I walked through Mid-town after 7:00 a.m., I wouldn’t have to deal with this bullshit.However, as I get to my office around 6:45, I have to fight my way into the office, walking around these hose-spraying idiots (as well as every goddamn jerk lining up to wave to the people back home via national television).Walk a few steps, pray that the SOB re-directs the hose.Christ, I don’t want to sit in wet shoes all morning if this prick fails to turn the blasted thing away.I’d rather stick my tongue down Diane Sawyer’s throat than have to deal with clammy loafers.

If these guys were cleaning the scum off the street like Travis Bickle, I’d have no problem.But, they’re just washing dust into the gutter.Dirt that probably contains Hantavirus which could help kill off some of the tourists that also plague this city.The hosemen will stop in a few months when the weather gets cold, though.That is a giant mistake.I would encourage them to create slabs of ice, though by wetting down the pavement in December.It would be a great way to get these goddamn in-bred shits out of the gene pool.“Oh, crap, look at Aunt Sally slide on her big, fat ass!”

In the meantime, I encourage all visitors to Good Morning America and The Today Show to roll all-over every unwashed sidewalk in the city.Please, take home a little of New York to Kansas or whatever freakin’ tank town you came from.